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Rich, I don't ask I just tell!!!,, hoping for a nice bit of early sunshine. I am visualising sitting outside sipping sangria recovering from running sub 3. I can dream
TBR - I've been part of a relay team 3 times running Fort William to Inverness, back in the day. I love running up there. Does the marathon start in FW?
Congrats to Birch, Speedy, Minni and Gul for getting out there. I jibbed it and headed for the gym instead, so my easy 4 miles on the treadie was supplemented by a bit of cycling and rowing. Doppy's swim session could be outdoors if this carries on much longer!
Some good stats from Menn there too.
TBR, agreed, good to be able to keep tabs on someone doing the same programme. You're right, you're a week ahead as I'll be plodding round London with a few of the others from here. That means you've got a fun sounding session for Christmas Eve!
Nothing to get excited about, but here goes..
The Fifteen Day Challenge was more or less an accident. Aim: to get some quality VLSRs in while work was slack. TOTF + a reminder to be mentally strong. Multiple autumn maras are the easiest way to do this and always pay off in the new year. And it's back to Africa in Jan where training is difficult so this is miles in the Comrades bank too.
Race 1 - Newcastle Racecourse mara 2 weeks ago. 16 laps, all finishing uphill into the wind. Not exciting, but I did pull some running crumpet for the last two laps
. 3.22.09/7th in a small field. Job done.
Two more maras were booked for a fortnight later. I thought about taking 12 days off and then attacking my 2in2 PB (6.35) but one would need to be extremely lucky with the weather to do this in December, especially on an exposed coastal multi-terrain course like Portsmouth. So it was 1 day off, a cut-back 50m of training over 9 days, then a 2 day taper and off to.....
....Race 2 the Dawn to Dusk Run in Ilford on Saturday. This was organised by the excellently-named Sikhs in the City running club who are a charming group devoted to grassroots, inclusive sport. It was more like a time trial than a race, and involved laps of a 2k route round 3 dull streets, ending each time with 1/2 a mile uphill into the swirling wind. Trying conditions with 10k, HM, mara & 50k options. I didn't bust a gut, stopped at 21 laps or mara distance in 3.23.44, job done, fastest mara finisher, and I got to meet the legendary 102 y.o. marathoner Fauja Singh. The combination of endurance sport and Punjabi food is a winner
. The Sikhs like a laugh and call samosas "Indian energy bars", very entertaining.
..and so...
....Race 3 - the Portsmouth Waterfront mara yesterday. A mix of tarmac, footpaths, fields, sea walls, wet sand, shingle (ouch!), lots of mud and standing water. Rather windy, especially in the 2nd half, and the first time I have ever started a race still wearing a bin liner. The weather did clear up but slower finishers got more heavy rain, and briefly had to wade through the sea as the tide came in.
The legs felt a bit wasted but I thought 3.45 would be doable. Once in a rhythm the target became 3.36 for a sub-7hr aggregate. But with 10m or so to go, it seemed than with a bit of teeth-gritting it could be sub 3.30 again and I came home in 3.27.04. Could have been quicker but the headwind was very strong for the last few miles.
2in2 aggregate = 6.50.48; 3in15 = 10.12.57. By choosing races carefully it would be possible to go sub-10 but the lack of Saturday marathons makes it difficult.
Job done, feet up for a couple of days but a Christmas day run is essential.
Enjoy the training everyone
Minnie- Starts and finishes under the watchful eye of Ben Nevis. Its flat and out and back! So you can see where you are in the field! Or in some cases(mine) how far you are behind!
Abbers- struggling with any sort of run at the moment as I have this chesty thing that is stubbornly not shifting! yeah 3x2 miles at 6:18/mile ouch that's gonna hurt! that's faster than my 5k pace!
Nice report and quality VLSR there poacher. Is there anything us normal folk can learn from doing such, especially in regard to post race recovery? What do you do after 26.2 to be able to stand the next day, yet alone do another 26.2?
Flippin' 'eck Poacher... but then I suppose we shouldn't expect anything less, should we?
Well done that man. You've earned your festive indulgences, that's for sure!
TBR - after a quiet 1st week of the schedule, that one suddenly comes along and slaps you in the face! A gentle reminder that it's not meant to be easy. As I'm a week behind you, that should work up a thirst nicely on New Year's Eve!
Hope your cough/chest eases soon. Always seem to linger.
Poacher -
Amazing stuff - fantastic mental and physical strength. Enjoy that downtime! Yes, like PMJ I'd like to know how exactly your legs recover so quickly. Or don't they, and you just do it anyway?
Having deliberately turned round at 9.5 miles a few weeks ago, I knew I had to get a 20 in before Christmas and all pointers suggested today was the best option.
I like to do these runs off road and recent runs on the river suggested that it was too slippery so I looked for an alternative and decided the Ridgeway (Britain's oldest road) was a good place to go. The forecast was rain getting heavier so I was out as soon as it was light enough to run a trail without a head torch. The section I chose started near Princes Risborough and headed south to Watlington. The advantage of this section is that it follows the ridge all the way so is relatively flat.
I programmed the course in the Garmin and set the Garmin to map so got a ping each mile so I knew how far I had gone (and how far to go) but no indication of time or speed.
It was soon apparent that the path was good and easy to follow but also was muddy and technical so I just settled into the natural pace it offered and decided this was to be a time on the feet run. As the miles ticked by, the weather got worse but never got really bad (though at one point I was trying to run downhill and was getting blown backwards) . The nice thing about and out and back is that once you are half way, it is essentially done as you have no option but to run back all the way you have come.
Turned out to be 2:54 for the 20 miles, average pace 8:42. No trouble at all, legs feel good and done with a slice of toast and a cup of tea beforehand but no gels or water on the run.
PMJ - X-post - Great miles, sounds like a nice route, too. Can't have been all that much fun in that weather, either.
"Normal" folk? Round here?
PMJ/Ant - Only the 2nd time I have tried 2in2, the obvious formula is:
1 - Don't bust a gut on day 1, but do get 5-10min of time in the bank if chasing a 2-day aggregate time. The ideal course would be a flat trail race without concrete to batter the feet. At the finish line, immediately forget about what you have just done and eat/drink everything in sight, as soon as possible. Especially drink, even if not feeling dehydrated. Keep walking for a while too. Stretching might help, I'm too lazy.
2 - Day 2 really does need to be as flat as possible regardless of terrain (as I found out at Windermere last time I tried this). The legs will have lost their zip but can still shuffle at a decent speed. Wear different/even newer shoes on day 2 and keep taking on fluids.
If you run an ultra, you can actually see which people are "real" ultra runners (shuffling in rhythm without lifting the feet very high) and which are marathoners trading up (higher backlift, more body movement). Clearly, the former style will make multi-day challenges easier
Remember the people who do 10 in 10 at Windermere - that is really remarkable
Xpost, cracking run PMJ, with some ancient history thrown in
Amazing exploits Poacher - enjoy the recovery. That sounds like a good training block with an phenomenal back-to-back. Good mental practice too.
The Ridgeway is great PMJ and a good choice for a hardpacked trial and I've taken the bike up there a few time in the section from Avebury to Pangbourne. The 14 week plan sounds like a good one.
Threadmills are sometimes good TBR when at sea - one chap I ran with at Comrades 2012, trained pretty much exclusively on them as he worked on an oil rig
Enjoying a rest day today. Next run planned for Thursday.
PMJ great effort! you can relax after that one!
Poacher - Superb (if not slightly bonkers) stuff!
I am sure you are resting back enjoying the well earned break now!
PMJ - Good miles banked there.
PMJ - impressine doing a 20 on a school day again.
Doppy - PnD is good and with the 2xMLR and 1xLSR it'll be just whet you need. Is Barcelona is early March ? Make sure that you follow the recommended paces and make the easy runs easy.
Excellently bonkers effort Poacher. How many marathons or ultras is that now?
well done to Ant too on a very promising effort and typically good racing from PMJ
Welcome to all of the newcomers - quite a crowd on here now and lots of talent.
AR, thanks for the link to your schedule - I've printed it out to put with the others that I can't quite manage
Over the past few months my foot problem has healed up but has sequentially migrated to my calf then to my thigh, then my groin, now my hip and my Physio thinks there's something wrong with my back - at this rate it will turn out that I've been stuffed for 18 months due to a wonky tooth or damaged nostril. Still, it's all progress. Not many miles I'm afraid but hovering around the 20 per week mark
.
Right, off for an easy 5
well, 4 miles easy 34mins followed by the insanity Test.
feeling good
Poacher- that takes a fair bit of metal to casually knock off a couple of back to back marathon. Shows you're a tough cookey.
Nice long run PMJ.
Nowt for me today, calf a little tender.
Impressed by all the hard work going in. PMJ that doesn't sound like much of a rest over the Christmas season.
I did a humble 4 miler- sand storm and hail on Tynemouth beach- had the place to myself.
2 mara's in 2 days Poacher, .excellent effort
After my first one I could hardly walk the 200 yards to the car park and at the pace of your average 90 year old 
Easy 6 today for me .
Wow, kudos Poacher!
Nice running from PMJ too.
Poacher, PMJ, Ant - you're all at it with these great runs, and it's making me somewhat depressed as I still havene't done my weekend 14. And to be perfectly honest I'm struggling to summon up much enthusiasm for doing it, particularly listening to the weather that's going on outside right now and the wheelie bins dancing around the district. I think I've realised that the sub-3 is beyond me at VLM 2014, and I can't find the prospect of running sub 3:20 to keep the GFA very exciting right now.
Doppy - for what it's worth I say go for it. Looking at your PBs there is a definite chance that you'll do it, but it's only going to get harder the longer you wait, so better give it a try than not bother and then regret it later. Better to try even if you miss it then always be left wondering 'what if?'.
Mennania - weather was OK here, yesterday morning.
Birch - good day for strides or stride-outs!
Speedy - good hill session.
Doppy - best of luck with P&D55-70.
Minni - well done on getting the first session in.
Abbers - probably a wise move heading to the dreadmill.
Poacher - unbelievable! Enjoy the rest.
PMJ - nice countryside - walked there but never run.
SJ - hope you can finally get those injury woes sorted and make a fresh start in 2014.
BOTF - hope you find your mojo.
Doppy - good luck in the rain.
13 miles for me @ 8:43 m/m - worst of the wind and rain was over. Neighbour's fence is down
Have a good Christmas everyone - won't be around much for the next week.
BOTF - It's much too early to rule anything out. A couple of good runs from you - and not necessarily pacey ones, just ones which for whatever reason leave you feeling positive - and that mojo will come back.
I see what you mean about sub-3:20 not being the most enticing goal, but it all comes down to how much you want the GFA. I was in a similar position this year and in the end geared all my training to getting it, and it became like the Holy Grail. Another positive thing to come out of the campaign was that I was able to convince myself that having gone sub-3 to just break sub-3:15 would be easier and that to an extent I could run within myself. This gave me a lot of confidence, strangely. In the end, I did it, and it was far from easy. but (and here's what I'm getting at) it was a very worthwhile target to have shot at.
It's horribly windy out there here. too, but an 11-miler has got to be done - tsk, don't P&D know I've gopt a turkey to collect? Stuffing, pies and sauces to make? Eh?
IMO the sub3 thing is not that important, it was never my motivation and I see so many people stressing about it and somehow feeling that if they have only scored a 3.XX it invalidates their efforts as a runner....that's a real shame.
(Dreading a pic of Ant in the bath of sauce, stuffing a surprised-looking turkey)
BOTF, know how you feel. My wife said last night that "I looked like I was struggling with motivation". I agreed with her but added "If it was easy, everyone would be doing it." Made me feel a bit more focused and I subsequently added a 40 minute spin session on the back of my run.
Thanks Gul, and Merry Xmas to you too sir - and to the whole thread. You've all kept me in touch with my running mojo all year. Have a good one!
PS, I expect to see photos of Xmas day runs on here tomorrow!